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Does carefully following our Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) work to improve blood sugar control and blood lipids? This 8 week RCT, testing a near-ideal DGA diet versus a typical American diet, suggests the answer is "NO." "Fasting insulin, glucose, triglycerides, oral-glucose tolerance, and indexes of insulin resistance were not affected by either of the diets." The only improvement was a reduction in blood pressure.

Cutting back on salt? Why bother? MedPage reports that new PURE study results, published in this week's The Lancet, show, for those consuming less than 4g sodium/day, reducing salt is associated with MORE heart events. (Average US consumption is 3.4g/day.)

NYT reporter, Anahad O'Connor, reports on another dietary advice switcharoo. The American Heart Association rolls back its longstanding advice to eat a variety of foods. Now, its researchers recommend a focus on quality and less worry about variety. Because sometimes, more variety means more bad choices.

Stanford Medicine announces results of a stunning new study showing diabetic-level blood sugar excursions in healthy volunteers. The study utilized CGM (Continuous Glucose Monitoring) technology to document post-meal blood sugar levels. Senior author, Dr. Michael Snyder, explains: “We saw that some folks who think they’re healthy actually are misregulating glucose — sometimes at the same severity of people with diabetes — and they have no idea... We saw that 80 percent of our participants spiked after eating a bowl of cornflakes and milk. Make of that what you will, but my own personal belief is it’s probably not such a great thing for everyone to be eating.”

New York Times reporter Anahad O'Connor takes a look at time restricted feeding, also known as intermittent fasting. His piece, "When We Eat, or Don't Eat, May Be Critical for Health" explores the growing body of research that suggests we experience better health when we align our eating patterns with our circadian clocks. Hint: no more bedtime snacks.

Nippon reports that a survey conducted by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare found record levels of diabetes. Among Japanese adults, 16.1% of men and 9.3% of women have diabetes. Note that the article incorrectly states, "Once a person has contracted diabetes there is no cure." Experts now believe that for many patients with T2D, carbohydrate restriction can resolve their condition.

A new Cochrane systematic review shows that fish oil (Omega 3) supplements do NOT improve health or longevity. The review encompassed 79 randomized trials and included over 112,000 subjects. Lead author Dr. Lee Harper states, “The review provides good evidence that taking long-chain omega 3 (fish oil, EPA or DHA) supplements does not benefit heart health or reduce our risk of stroke or death from any cause. The most trustworthy studies consistently showed little or no effect of long-chain omega 3 fats on cardiovascular health."

Fiona Godlee, editor in chief of The BMJ, pens an op-ed entitled "Pills are not the answer to unhealthy lifestyles." In it, she writes, "... Pills can’t be the answer to diseases caused by unhealthy living. As well as unsustainable cost for often marginal benefit, they always cause harm. Rather than medicating almost the entire adult population, let’s invest our precious resources in societal and lifestyle change, public health, and prevention." Amen.

Stanford scientists John Ioannidis and John Trepanowski write a prescription for improved nutrition research in review journal Advances in Nutrition. A key recommendation is pooling resources for larger randomized trials. "Pivotal megatrials with tens of thousands of participants and lifelong follow-up are possible in nutrition science with proper streamlining of operational costs."

Not all carbs are created equal. Harvard's prolific Dr. David Ludwig illuminates the connection between carbohydrate quality and health, this time in BMJ. A key message: "Replacing processed carbohydrates with unprocessed carbohydrates or healthy fats would greatly benefit public health."

The BBCruns a 5 minute feature on UK Deputy Labor Leader Tom Watson, who has lost 96 pounds in eleven months by cutting out sugar and starch and eating more fat. Given his personal transformation, Watson asks if government should be giving dietary advice when there is such scientific controversy surrounding nutrition.